HE is holding down his place in the Newcastle United team, starring in a full-back role and been recalled to the Netherlands squad in recent weeks. It is safe to assume that life in the Championship is going a lot better than Vurnon Anita may have envisaged in May.

The 27-year-old had been in an out of the Newcastle team during his first four years on Tyneside, but Rafael Benitez has made him a permanent fixture in his starting line-up – provided he has not missed out through suspension.

Anita has been deemed to be a holding midfielder for the vast majority of his time in the North-East after leaving Ajax in the summer of 2012. His versatility and positive approach, however, has seen him operate on the flank and on the right of defence.

The latter is where he has looked most comfortable and it would be a surprise if he was left out against Ipswich Town this afternoon because his manager has relied a lot on him so far this season.

Benitez explained: “I had my report on Vurnon from when he was at Ajax to look at, I had him as right full-back and winger then so that is where we have been using him. He is quite clever, he knows what he needs to do in each position.

“You need to keep working with him but he understands quickly. When he was playing as a winger he is not the kind of winger like Matt Ritchie or Christian Atsu, but he knows his job and is clever. He is someone I appreciate because he is a really good professional.”

That approach has certainly won over his manager. Anita may not be the match winner who is going to excite supporters, but he is not the kind of player who will make mistakes regularly.

Anita, regardless of the position, has embraced life in the Championship and that earned him a call-up for his country at the beginning of the month.

The diminutive Dutchman said: “We are winning a lot of games, so that’s good because as a club we want to be at the top of the league and we want to stay there.

“It was hard last season to think about the relegation but at the beginning of the season we all had to refocus and think about this season. Now we are enjoying ourselves but we are still not there yet. We have to stay focused.

“It was a hard feeling when we went down but we had to focus on trying to make the best of the situation. We have since really picked things up and it feels good.

“The last six or seven games last season started to feel good to but we couldn’t win enough games to stay up. We have carried that over to this season and we are trying to build on that, I think we are.”

While Anita may still harbour hopes of forcing his way back into the midfield role he had become known for, he also admits playing will keep the smile on his face.

He said: “A player always wants to play, I am playing games and I’m really enjoying myself. The competition is good too and that keeps everyone focused.

“Even if somebody drops out of the team somebody else can step in and do well, that helps the team because the level of competition is good. Even if you are in competition the team spirit is good, we all want each other to do well.

“I’m playing a lot of games, I feel fit and good. I am trying to do the best in training and the rest is down to the coach to decide if he wants to play me. It felt horrible to watch from the stands when I was suspended, not to be involved, but it was good to see my team-mates do well.”

Anita’s red card against Wolves in mid-September meant he missed three matches; it was only the second time in his career he has been dismissed and the first saw his red card rescinded during his time in Holland.

But he has carried on where he left off since returning to the team to help Newcastle claim top spot in the race for the Premier League.

He said: “It felt good in midweek to win at Barnsley in front of all of those fans and go top. The team was happy. We also know it is still early, we have the next game and we need to be ready because the teams behind us are ready to take over us if we slip up.”